Glenfiddich’s World’s Most Experimental Bartender is unlike any other bartending competition you’ve seen!

Unique collaborations, unique cocktails

In order to be remembered, you have to be different. Experimenting, taking a risk and thinking outside the box are ways to break traditional moulds and challenge status quo. To celebrate the spirit of experimentation, Glenfiddich is back with its global event, a competition to find the World’s Most Experimental Bartender.

Started in 2016, this unique event pairs a popular bartender with an expert from a cultural field to create a unique drink, representative of their journey as an artist. This drink, made using Glenfiddich, is not simply a cocktail – it is the liquid image of the artist it represents. The collaborating duos get together to create a drink with the flavours of the life and achievements of the artist.

Last year, Chef Prateek Sadhu and bartender Chirag Pal won the event with their eccentric cocktail. This year, six interesting, successful contestant-duos are coming together to compete at the event in Delhi, which will take place on September 1st, 2018.

The dynamic duos

Anushka Menon, who began her career at the age of 21, is a leading fashion and beauty photographer. She describes her work as unique – to her it represents the core qualities of strength, creativity, harmony and nurture. She is pairing up with Ami Shroff, an equally spirited bartender at London Taxi. Rajiv Sheth, who is the award-winning perfumer behind the brand All Good Scents, will be pairing up with mixologist Soumyadipta from J.W. Marriott, Pune. Chef Saby, who has earlier received the prestigious ‘Best Chef of India’ award from the President of India, is a force to reckon with in the culinary world. He will be forming a dynamic duo with the head bartender of Pra Pra Prank, Sanchayan. You can expect to find Krsnaa Mehta’s bold and distinctive home décor designs reflect in the designer’s cocktail, for which he will be pairing up with bartender Alok, from St. Regis. India’s youngest illusionist and the host of his own TV show, Neel Madhav will be seen with Dibyendu from The Park, to create a drink that’s no less magical than the tricks he performs. Award-winning singer, songwriter and composer, who has trained in Hindustani Classical music and western music styles that include Gospel and Jazz, Sonam Kalra, is pairing up with Rohan Matamary from Big Brewsky Bangalore.

All the six bartenders will collaborate with their counterparts to come up with a drink that no one has heard of or thought of. Although bartenders are equipped to create great tasting drinks with different kinds of alcohol, making this special drink will be a bit of a challenge, as it will require them to go beyond the usual and really think out of the box. The winning duo will be the pair who really takes up this challenge and makes the most of it.

The decision makers: the jury

The contestants will be judged by an expert jury panel consisting of renowned designer Gaurav Gupta, famous visual artists Thukral and Tagra, and influencer Vikram Aditya. The winner, who will be chosen at the Glenfiddich event on 1st September, will get the opportunity to compete in the world finals in Scotland.

You can find out more about Glenfiddich’s World’s Most Experimental Bartender here.